Decisive seconds
Manu López Gaseni
Beste, 2024
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You start reading this short novel and you feel trapped, and in that it has to do with the intense and fast pace set by the writer. In the first ten pages we will find out about the 16-year-old young protagonist, we will know that there has been an attack, apparently committed by jihadists and that the protagonist of the novel, of Arab boy origin born in the Basque Country, will be considered suspicious. We also know that he is innocent (“but he cannot prove it”) and that the police are convinced that he is guilty... until a mysterious woman (“guardian angel”) appears.
The aim of the novel is to unravel the attack, an investigation by the young Karim with the mysterious police woman to prove his innocence. Among them, however, the reader will also have the opportunity to approach the life of the migrants and the culture and customs of the protagonist; the journey and the suffering to the paradise dreamed of leaving prosperity at its origin. “Ironically, when they arrived in the supposed paradise after the great tiredness, Zahira, already pregnant again and very weakened, is said to have died seven days after giving birth to Karim.”
Karim also has a secret: something that happened while he was in his mother’s womb affects the boy’s ability to see what will happen in a very short future. And in fact, this controlling power saved his life on the day of the attack... making him a suspect. Karim, with the help of the mysterious female police officer Bakarne, will try to find out who the perpetrators are and the reason for the attack in the next seven days. In fact, solving an attack that has little to do with jihad.
López Gaseni has tried to reveal a series of issues in the novel, so far we have talked about the situation of migration, but there are also issues such as the desire for money of the rich, the behavior of politicians or the relationships of young people, all through a quick and agile reading. And in this lightness they have to do with the characterization of the characters, the measurement of descriptions and dialogues or the intense narratives of the events.
In short, this short novel for young people and adults does just that, making it an attractive task to get to know society better, to reflect on society, and at the same time, a police novel that is read fluently and gladly, a story that takes you from the beginning to the end.